Ore-concentrator



(No Model.)

E. MANUELl E K. M. EEEVES.

OEE GONGENTEATOE.

No. 452,676. Patented May 19,1891

ms Noms :Evans ca. mavo-umu., wnsnmu'run, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT il? EETCE.

oR-Conanterre/AroR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,676, dated May19,1891.

Application filed January 2S, 1891. Serial No. 379,416. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.- f

Be it known that we, FRED MANUEL and KENNETH M. REEVES, of Helena, inthe'county clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedore-concentrator which is simple and durable in construction, veryef--i'ective in operation, and readily separates the concentrates from thetailings.

The invention consists of a conical cylinder mounted to rock andprovided at its closed large end with an inlet, the small end being openand forming an outlet.

The invention also consists in certain parts and details andcombinations of the same, as will be described hereinafter, and thenpointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure lisa sectional side` elevation of the improvement on the line l lof Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the small end of the cylinder.Fig. 3 is atransverse section of the improvement on the line 3 of Fig.l. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the same on the lineiof Fig. l. Fig. 5 isan enlarged side elevation, with parts in section, of thc water-feedpipe. Fig. 6 is an en d elevation of the same with parts broken out.Fig. 7 is a sectional side elevation of a device for raising or loweringthe table supporting the cylinder; and Fig. S is an end elevation of thelarge end of the cylinder, illustrating the mechanism for operating theconveyer.

The improved ore-concentrator is provided with a cylinder A, made in theshape of a truncated cone and having its large end closed and its smallend open, so as to form a discharge for the tailings and water. Thecylinder A is secured .to semicircular rockers B, mounted to rockon aseries of longitudinally-extending' strips C, secured on the top of atable D, pivoted at one end at or near the large end of the cylinder A,and adapted to be raised and lowered at the small end, so as to regulatethe level of the pulp in the cylinder A. The rockers B are each providedin the middle at their under side with a notch adapted to be engaged bya V- shaped longitudinally-extending strip C,be ing one of the stripsCpreviously mentioned. This V-shaped strip and a notch serve to returnthe cylinder A to the proper place after imparting a rocking motion tothe right and left to the cylinder. In order to prevent longitudinaldisplacement of the cylinder and its rockers, transverse guiding-stripsC2 are fastened to the top of the strips C on the table Don each side ofeach rocker, as is plainly shown in Figs. l and 3.

In order to swing the table D up and down, the said table is providednear the large end of the cylinder A with transversely-extending stripsD', fulcrunied on correspondinglyrecessed supports D2, erected on thefloor on which the machine stands. The other end of the table D isadapted to be raised or lowered by means of eccentrics E, secured on atransv'ersely-extending shaft E', mountedto turn in suitable bearingsE2, erected on the fioor. The shaft'E is provided on one end with abelt-wheel E3 or other means for turning the said shaft-E to swing theeccentrics or cam-wheels E up or down to raise or lower this end of thetable, the latter swinging on the transverse strips D as a fulcrum.

Instead of the eccentrics E, jack-screws F may be employed, screwingvertically in suitable nuts F, held on posts or supports F2, erected onthe floor. (See Fig. 7.) The cylinder A is provided on its top withbracket-s C', pivotally connected with a pitman G, connected withsuitable machinery for imparting a transverse rolling motion to the saidcylinder, so as to rock the same on its rockers B on thelongitiulinally-extending strips C. By thus causing the rockers B topass from one strip to another a sudden jerk is given to the rocker, andconsequently to the cylinder A, so as to agitate more readily the pulpwithin the cylinder A. The latter is provided on top near its closed endwith an inlet A', connected by a flexible tube H with the feed-hop perIl', through which the pulp is introduced. The flexible tube H followsthe motion of the cylinder A, so thata continuous feeding from thehopper H is insured.

The small end of the cylinderA is adapted to be opened or closed more orless by a gate IOO l, hung on alcver l,.undcr the control ot' theOperator. Near the discharge end of the cylinder A, and within thelatter, is arranged a feed-pipe J, extending through the bottom of thecylinder A, to connect with the flexible pipe Jv', leading to a suitablesource of watersupply to charge the water-leed pipe J. rlhe latter isprovided with a segmental pipe J2, (see Figs. 5 and 15,) extending onboth sides 1o ofthe pipe J and provided with dischargenozzles Ji",through which the water supplied by the pipe J can pass in small jets tothe interior of the cylinder A, so as to agitato the pulp therewith.Frein the segmental pipes J2 also extend toward the large end of thecylinder A perforated pipes J, serving a similar purpose to the nozzlesJi", and thus the water passing through the said perforated pipes Jiagitates the pulp. Next to-the feed- 2o water pipe J, and toward thelarge end of the cylinder A, is arranged a gate K, mounted to slidevertically in suitable guideways K', arranged within the cylinder A andsecured to the walls thereof. The gate K is adapted to be raised orlowered by means of a screw-rod K2, extending through the top ot thecylinder A and provided at the outer end with a handwheel K3 under thecontrol of the operator.

ln the bottom of the cylinder A is termed o a pocket A?, in which isarranged a transversely-extending conveyor-screw L, secured on ashaft L,mounted to turn in suitable bearings, et which oneis on the inside ofthe cylinder A, as is plainly shown in Fig. 1, and the other is in theclosed end ot the said cylinder. The shaft L extends to the outside andisprovided on this outer cnd with a ratchet-whccl U, engaged by a spring-pressed pawl L, fulcrulned en a lever N,`loosely j ournaled 4o onthe shaft L. The lever N is connected with a rod N', connected withsuitable machinery for imparting a forward and backward swinging motionto the said lever to rotate the conveyer-screw at intervals, so that theconcentrates settling in the bottom of the cylinder A are fed toward thelarge end of the said cylinder, where they are discharged through asuitable opening provided n ear the large end and in the bottom of theconveyer- 5o pocket. The large end of the cylinder is provided with adoor (l), as shown in Fig. S, through which door the cylinder can becutered.

The operation is as follows: When the pitman G is set in motion, arocking motion is given to the cylinder A, as previously dcscribed, andthe pulp introduced from the hopper ll through the ilexible tube ll isthus constantly agitated by the rocking motion of 6o the cylinder, sothat the heavy precious metals readily sett-lc to the bottom, while thetailings and water llow toward the small end of the cylinder to bedischarged through the gate l, which is open sufficiently for thispurpose. In order to increase the agitation of the pulp, water isinjected into the pulp through the nozzles J5 and perforated pipes .l l,as previously described. At suitable intervals the shalt E is rotated soas to raise and lower the table l) to agitato the pulp longitudinallywithin the cylinder A. rlhe rotary motion of the conveyerscrew Lcentinues to move the concentrates to the larger end of the cylinder A,from which they are discharged through a suitable opening provided inthe bottom of the conveyor-pocket at the large end of the cylinder. Thescrewgate l( serves the especial purpose of retaining all of the orewhich carries mineral of value, but is so finely pulverized that itforms a scum which loats off on top ol the water, the gate being screweddown until the lower edge is constantly under water in the cylinder.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent" l. In au ore-concentrator, an impcrforatetruncated conical cylinder mounted to rock axially and provided with aclosed large end and an open small end for discharging thetailings,substantially as shown and described.

ln an ore-conccntrator, an axially-rocking imperlorate truncated conicalcylinder4 arranged longitudinally and provided at its closed large endwith a pulp-inlet, the small end ofthe said cylinder being open to ferma tailings-discharge, substantially as shown and described.

3. In an ore-concentrator, the combination, with a table provided withlongitudinal strips, of semicircular rockers mounted to rocktransversely on the said strips, and a cylinder se cured on the saidrockers for containing the pulp, substantially as shown and described.

l. In an orc-concentrator, the combination, with a table provided withlongitudinal strips, of semicircular rockers mounted to rocktransversely on the said strips, a cylinder secured on the said rockersfor containing the pulp, and means, substantially as described, forvertically adjusting the tailings end of the said table, as set forth.

In an ore-concentrator, the combination, with a conical cylinderarranged longitudinally, of rockers carrying the said cylinder andadapted to rock transversely, a pulpinlet arranged on the large cndotfthe said conical cylinder, and an adjustable gate held on the small openend of the said cylinder, substantially as shown and described.

6. ln an ore-coneentrator, the combination, with a conical cylinderarranged longitudinally,of rockers carrying the said cylinder andadapted to rock transversely, a pulpinlet arranged en thelarge endet thesaid conical cylinder, an adj ustable gate held on the small open end ofthe said cylinder, andawater-feed pipe arranged within the said cylinderand provided with discharge-nozzles, substantially as shown anddescribed.

7. In an ore-coneentrator, the combination, with a conical cylinderarranged longitudinally, of rockers carrying the said cylinder andadapted to rock transversely, a pulpin- IIO let arranged on the largeend of the said conical cylinder, an adjustable gate held on the smallopen end of the said cylinder, a waterfeed pipe arranged within the saidcylinder and provided with discharge-nozzles, and perforated pipesextendinglongitudinally within the said cylinder and leading from thesaid feed-water pipe, substantially as shown and described.

8. In an ore-concentrator, the combination, with a conical cylindermounted to rock and having a closed large end and an open small end, ofa gate arranged within the said cylindex' between its ends, the saidgate being iitted to slide vertically, substantially as shown anddescribed.

9. In an ore-concentrator, the combination, with a conical cylindermounted to rock and having a closed large end and an open small end, ofa gate arranged within the said cylininder between its ends, the saidgate being tted to slide vertically, and a screw extending down into thecylinder and engaging the gate to raise and lower it, as set forth.

10. In an ore-concentrator, the combination, with a conical cylinderarranged longitudinally and mounted to rock transversely, of aconveyer-screw extending longitudinally in the bottom of the saidcylinder, substantially as shown and describe( l1. In anore-concentrator, the combination, with a conical cylinder arrangedlongitudinally and mounted to rock transversely, of

a conveyer-screw extending longitudinally in the bottom of the saidcylinder near thelarge end of the said cylinder, and means,substantially as described, for imparting an intermittent rotary mot-ionto the said conveyerscrew, as set forth.

'FRED MANUEL. KENNETH M. REEVES. Witnesses:

ANDREW F. WADE, WALLACE C. BIRKHEAD.

